FLINT, MI – Flint Soup and Flint Kiva are two organizations that share the same common goal of furthering entrepreneurship.

Kiva Flint works as a peer-to-peer microloan through zip.kiva.org, where residents collaborate to fund business loans of up to $5,000 in order to help Flint entrepreneurs launch or grow a business.

Flint Soup works like this: people show up for a community dinner — usually soup, salad and bread — and donate a minimum of $5. During the dinner, three or four selected organizations make their case for why the donated money should go toward their cause. Then the diners vote and the money goes to the winner.

On Tuesday, Nov. 19, the two organizations are partnering to host KIVA SOUP – a blending of both operations.

At the event, four Kiva Flint entrepreneurs will pitch their businesses to the Flint community gathered together over a soup dinner. In this new experiment, Kiva Flint’s social entrepreneurs will share a funding need with the audience, who will then vote to decide who among them will receive a micro-grant up to $1,000 to advance their business efforts.

The micro-grant will be funded through a pooled collection of entry fees from participants. Attendees will also have an opportunity to contribute to a Kiva Flint revolving loan fund, administered to local-area entrepreneurs through the Kiva website.

This event is open to the public and with a $5 entry fee. In addition to a vote, participants will receive a dinner of soup, bread and salad.

According to the event’s organizers, “This exciting partnership is a collaborative experiment around new forms of funding to champion local business. This event celebrates the central role that social entrepreneurs play in building a strong, vibrant community fabric in Flint.”

KIVA SOUP will take place at The Catholic Charities Center for Hope, located at 517 E. Fifth Ave. in Flint. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and presentations will begin at 6 p.m.

To nominate an entrepreneur for Kiva Michigan, visit michigancorps.org/kiva or e-mail kiva@michigancorps.org. To lend directly to a Flint entrepreneur, visit http://zip.kiva.org and search Flint.